Trophy win is no consolation

SADDLEWORTH Rangers may be about to procure their first piece of silverware this season, but for coach Keith Brennan it arrives on the back of a campaign tinged with disappointment.

Rangers have ended the season top of the Rugby Oldham Challenge standings and will pick up their trophy at the Oldham Amateur league dinner on Friday night.

But having missed out on Standard Cup final glory thanks to a superb Waterhead display on Good Friday, Rangers also narrowly failed to nail down one of three available promotion spots to the National Conference League premier division and the many close score lines that have gone against the team this year have produced a feeling of frustration.

“The amount of games we have squandered is terrible really,” admitted Brennan, whose side finished the season on Saturday with a 32-19 home win over Millom.

“To gain promotion you have to be consistent and we haven’t managed to achieve that.

“A lot of games have slipped by us and we have been beaten by two or four points. It has been frustrating.

“Every time we have lost, it has been the case that we have gifted other sides their tries, while we have had to graft for everything we have got.

“The lads have all put in plenty of hard work and effort, so it is just disappointing the way the season has panned out.”

The narrow defeats at least provided Rangers with nine handy bonus points, gained by virtue of losing league matches by less than 12 points.

With the Rugby Oldham Challenge decided on a points-per-game basis to take into account the fact that sides in different divisions play different amounts of league matches, newcomers to the Oldham Amateur RL Rochdale Cobras finished in a creditable second spot with Waterhead just behind in third.




DAVID Sweeney has been confirmed as the winner of this year’s Man of Steel award.



The Joseph Parr (Alco) Ltd sponsored title goes to the Higginshaw half-back, along with a cheque for £500, after a season in which Sweeney — who made a switch to his former club from St Anne’s in mid-season — dominated the competition.

The former BARLA under-21s international ended up with 10 man-of-the-match nominations to finish five clear of nearest rivals Danny Kay and Andrew Cheetham.

Saints hooker Kay does have reason to celebrate though, after being named in the inaugural national Conference League Eagles squad to cross the channel to face France ‘B’ and Morocco in mid-June.

Coached by former Roughyeds hooker Anthony Murray and Allan Wood, on standby to join the travelling party is Saddleworth Rangers forward Adam Walker.